


Stay By My Side

by baexil



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Healer AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:02:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7965364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baexil/pseuds/baexil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a pretty easy and straightforward job. Deliver the requested package safely to the specific address given by the client, a regular cut-and-dry mission for the Healer courier team. But why does Daehyun have the inkling that something about this job just doesn't feel right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay By My Side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ACatWhoWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatWhoWrites/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Viva la Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5797900) by [ACatWhoWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatWhoWrites/pseuds/ACatWhoWrites). 



> Daehyun's job as a courier and Youngjae as his helpful hacker is based on the Korean drama, Healer. While set in this universe, it is not necessary to have seen the drama to read this story.
> 
> That being said, the drama is quite bad ass and I highly recommend it.

With a job like his and one that he has been doing for a long time now, Daehyun knows more than anything that surprises are never a good sign. Ever. Which is why when he peeks around the corner of the abandoned building he is hiding behind and sees a group of around fifteen thugs, all dressed up in suits and sunglasses, obviously lingering around the entrance to his drop off location, he is not pleased.

“What the hell,” he hisses, quickly ducking out of the way and pressing himself back against the building, “Please tell me that I’ve mistaken the address for the drop off again or I’m about to have a very bad day.” 

“Believe me, I look forward to pointing out your frequent errors,” a dry voice, slightly staticky, crackles into his ear piece, “But, fortunately for you, this doesn’t happen to be one of them.” 

Unamused, but unsurprised at Youngjae's snark, Daehyun makes the wise decision to keep to the point, “And so why there is an army of cronies waiting for me exactly were the client asked me to drop off the goods?” 

“Your guess is as good as mine at this point, hotshot.” 

“What's this we have here?" Daehyun teases, unable to resist picking at his friend despite the situation, “The famous tech-wiz Yoo Youngjae stumped by his own mission.” 

“Shut your trap,” Youngjae growls in his ear. In the beat of silence that follows he can hear the frantic clanking of a keyboard distant in the background. Relying in the repertoire established over time between them and Youngjae's innate intelligence and quick-wit that have gotten them out of stickier situations, Daehyun feels reassured in Youngjae's abilities to get him through this. 

He stays quiet, letting Youngjae have the silence he needs in order to better concentrate on his programs and camera feeds and who knows what else as he starts to undoubtedly form a plan. In the meantime, Daehyun pushes his glasses further up on his nose. Not any ordinary glasses, of course, a designed made by Himchan and Youngjae a couple of years ago, equipped with minuscule cameras and a hidden screen to allow the intelligence team to project information right to his eyes. When they first introduced the technology to the team, Daehyun had said something about Iron Man-like gadgets only to get a response of two, very cold, stares. 

Daehyun takes wide looks around, knowing Youngjae will take the information from his camera feed to help him with his own work. As he does so, an idea comes to him. 

“This couldn't be a set-up, could it?” he asks. Their company was renowned in the security and courier worlds. Over time they had built up clientele and experience that was uncomparable to any of their competitors. Beyond that, they work on a completely anonymous basis. Keeping a low profile is key in this business, but it was unheard of to have an entire company with unknown runners. Of course, Daehyun thinks smugly, they are just that good. You won't even find a trace of their face on security footage, let alone any pictures of their members. Due to curiosity, jealousy, or just a wariness born from the mass amount of secrets and sensitive information they have gained over time, having a client or a competitor set up an ambush to find the identity of one of the famed Healers wasn't uncommon. 

Youngjae scoffs in his ear, “It’s a little obvious to be a set up, don't you think? Not much luck secretly offing you with all of those guys in plain sight. No, they know how good we are and that tactic is far too obvious to work on us. Too much of a show. You’d have to be an idiot to walk into that one,” There is a pause, “Ah actually, on second thought, this type of trick might work on you.” 

“Hey now,” Daehyun says, absolutely not pouting. Secret, badass couriers don't pout. 

“Stop pouting,” Youngjae replies knowingly. Daehyun promptly turns to the nearest security camera, one hanging off a streetlight, and makes a rude gesture, knowing he will see it. “Don't be rude. We both know that you have fallen for more obvious plots before.” 

Daehyun scoffs. “When?” he demands. 

“In March." Youngjae says shortly, no explanation needed, "Russian mob wife.” 

Okay, so _maybe_ Youngjae has a point. But there would be no way he would admit it, though his silence is oblvious a good enough answer for Youngjae. 

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Daehyun can tell Youngjae is smug, even through the miles of distance between them. He rolls his eyes, and grits his teeth. 

“So,” Daehyun changes the topic, “Are we thinking that the client sent these guys or what?” 

Youngjae hums thoughtfully, “Inconclusive. I ran their faces through our database. Every hit I’ve seen so far have been linked with Hermes.” 

Blinking in surprise, Daehyun carefully leans forward to peek around the corner again. He squints at them, flicking from face to face. Now concentrating on their details rather than the sheer amount of them, some of them do look familiar. Hermes is their fiercest rival, often vying for jobs and trying to one-up each other. But why would their clients hire another company for the same job? Or perhaps hired by an interested, third party? 

“Get your dumb head out of their eyesight,” Youngjae hisses at him. Daehyun jumps in surprise, quickly dipping out of the way again, “Are you _wanting_ to be seen?” 

“No,” he replies sourly. 

“I swear you’d be the most worthless courier without me.” Youngjae says distractly, tapping still frantic in the background. 

Daehyun stays silent, but they both know it’s true. Youngjae has saved his life countless times, his steady, sound advice whispering into his ears in the most tense situations, guiding him through to a successful ending every time. He doesn’t know what he would’ve done if Youngjae hadn't decided to be his partner all those years ago. Teaming up with him and cementing their relationship to be the successful duo they are today. Probably dropped out of the business or far worse. 

“Alright,” Youngjae interrupts, snapping Daehyun's attention back to the present, thankfully completely oblivious to his inner monologue, “This what we are going to do,” 

Centering himself with a deep breath and shaking off all linger thoughts, Daehyun focuses on Youngjae's smooth monologue as he takes him through the plan, step by step. 

——

The night air is cool against his flushed skin as he scales up the nearest building, swinging himself up on top of a tiled roof and landing lightly. He runs across the roof, using his speed to fling himself gracefully onto the next building’s roof. 

“Good job, hotshot,” Youngjae murmurs into his ear, tired but obviously pleased, “You handled that well." 

Grinning at the satisfaction of a job well done and the compliment, Daehyun pumps his arms and legs faster, smoothly jumping out of his run to flip gracefully onto the next building. It hadn’t taken long to finish up the job, Youngjae guiding him through a back entrance into the building, slipping in behind the front guard. He’d surprised two guards, but had quickly and silently taken them out before they could see his face or shout out a warning. And he’d finished up the whole plan with just a couple of bruises and a bloody nose. Far less than his usual long list of injuries post-job. 

“You are such a puppy, aren’t you?” Youngjae says with no heat, for once. He grins and does another fancy tumbling move, just to show off some, “Alright, alright. Take your well deserved compliment and go home. You’ve earned a good rest.” 

Daehyun practically coos at the thought of crawling under the covers and letting his sore and worn muscles melt into his mattress. He can't wait to lean back and close his eyes from the real world for a good ten hours. This mission had taken a couple of days and he sorely misses his bed. The sooner he gets home, the better. 

“That I can definitely do,” Daehyun pauses, thinking about how tired Youngjae sounds, “Are the others already at the house? Are you on your way?” 

“No,” he says heavily, “I’ve been working on a new facial recognition system. We used it today with the goons out front. and I have noticed a few quick things that can be fixed to make the software run more smoothly for the next time. Might as well get it done now while it’s still fresh in my mind.” 

“Is Himchan there as well?” Daehyun asks. 

“No, they others finished up their jobs well before dinner and they’ve all already left for the day.” Youngjae sighs, “If a certain _someone_ could’ve just finished up their job a bit faster, I could’ve gone with them.” 

“Hey now,” Daehyun rolls his eyes, “What me to come back to HQ and keep you some company? I can bring chicken and beer? Your favorite.” 

Youngjae is silent for a moment, his tone soft, “No, it’s okay, I’ll finish up quickly. The fixes shouldn’t take me long, by the time you get out here, I’ll already be done.” 

“Alright,” Daehyun frowns, pausing on the roof to where he was already heading towards headquarters. “As long as you are sure.” 

A scoff, “Who do you think you are talking to? Of course I’m sure.” Daehyun rolls his eyes and there is a beat of silence. He tilts his head, listening carefully, not sure if Youngjae had already gone from their communicator. He just barely hears the faint sound of breathing on the line, telling him their call is still connected. The sound of Youngjae's breath just as familiar as his own, if not more. The air hangs heavy for a moment and Daehyun holds his breath, feeling like he is waiting but also not quite sure what he is waiting for, just that he should wait and be as quiet as possible and not let his mouth run, like per usual, and ruin the moment. 

The silence stretches between them and the urge to open is mouth to say _something_ is strong. Just then Youngjae clears his throat, breaking the moment, quickly saying, “Good night, Daehyun.” 

He doesn’t even get a chance to reply before Youngjae clicks off. Disappointment bites at him, even though he knows he has no right to feel that way. 

Taking the slower route home, Daehyun walks at a leisurely pace, letting the high of completing a job and the frustration of Youngjae's vagueness wind down slowly. His thoughts unravel step by step as he goes through the day, from top to bottom, analyzing what went wrong and what went right. He knows Yongguk will ask for a run down in the morning, and it always helps him improve if he has some time to reflect on the day. 

Usually, this post-job inner-musings helps him relax, to shut off his work brain for the day, but something keeps bothering him. Niggingly at him. Like an itch that he can’t quite reach, something just seems off about the jobs. 

Why had those men been outside of the building? It was loud and flashy and far too obvious, just like Youngjae had said. The mission had started simply enough, they had a morning meeting, the six of them meeting before heading out on different jobs to different parts of the city. The other jobs must’ve wrapped but quickly and cleanly enough for the others to be gone before dinner. Only their job had an unforeseen hiccup, one that cost them time. 

A big flashy group of guards that had wasted their time in finishing up their assignment. 

Daehyun practically freezes midstep. A big distraction that took their attention away for a considerable period of time was the dictionary definition of- 

A decoy. 

Thoughts start stumbling in after that realization, including how easily everything had gone for them today except the last moment. If his mission had been the distraction while the others were all presumably in the same location, then that meant the real target was- 

Daehyun spins on his heel and shoots off in the opposite direction, flinging himself up a nearby fire escape before he can think. He presses his ear piece, directing it to call Youngjae. It rings to no answer, he hangs up, tries again, hoping that his gut instinct is completely wrong. When he receives no answer again, he immediately calls Yongguk. 

“Hyung,” he interrupts before Yongguk can even greet him, “Code Red. Target Youngjae.” 

He can hear Yongguk suck in a breath and he thanks the stars of the trust he has built up between them when Yongguk doesn’t even hesitate or question how he knows of the immediate threat, just jumping in with, “Where?” 

“Headquarters,” Daehyun breaks into a sprint, flinging himself onto the next building, rolling with the impact, “I don’t think we have much time, they planned this.” 

“We will be there in five,” he can hear a door slam shut and Yongguk’s deep even breaths that he is as familiar with as his own. 

“I’ll see you there,” he says, clicking off and racing towards his destination. 

By the time he can see the large warehouse of their headquarters, Daehyun is pretty sure that he has made it in record time. As he approaches, their security alarm is already blaring through the otherwise silent night and Daehyun’s worst fears are realized. Shattered windows on the third floor are the obvious entry point to their intruders. Luckily for him, that also provides him an easy way in around their complicated and secure entry measures. In an instant, he is up on the side of the building, scaling towards the open windows. 

Practically flying, Daehyun swings himself in through the window, grateful for his leather jacket to protect him against the broken glass on the floor as he rolls his landing. 

Daehyun is up on his feet again before he can thinking, “Youngjae!” he calls over the sound of the alarm, his voice thick with desperation, “Youngjae!” 

Receiving no response, he races from their main tech area to the larger practice room. His heart nearly stops when he sees a crumbled form in the middle of the room. He races towards it, rolling Youngjae onto his back. There are developing bruises around his mouth and eye, accompanied by a wicked-looking split lip and some other scratches. Daehyun can barely see it as a wave of bloodlust washes over him. 

Focusing on Youngjae’s limp body and lack of response, Daehyun starts to shake his friend, patting his cheek gently, firm enough to wake him but gentle enough to not hurt his other bruises much. 

“Youngjae,” he wheezes, desperate, “Please Youngjae, I need you to wake up for me. C’mon, wake up and call me some sort of stupid name for being this worried about you. C’mon!” 

His eyes start to flutter open and Daehyun swears his heart starts to beat again for the first time since he had realized the decoy. Gently, he cups Youngjae’s face into his hands and prays to every god out there that his precious person is safe. For now. 

His relief is instantly washed away when he starts to wonder why Youngjae is by himself, with no enemies in sight. The only reason they would leave would be because they were either reassured that Youngjae was out or that they didn’t want to be near for what comes next. 

Youngjae’s hand finds his jacket and clenches it in a death grip. His unfocused eyes try to find his own, mouth working furiously to put words to Daehyun’s worst suspicion. 

“O- out. Now.,” he gasps. Daehyun doesn't even let himself think when he stands and throws Youngjae onto his back, no time to be careful with his friend as his whole body shaking at his urgency to get out them of the building. The moment he takes his first step towards the exit, the building jolts, almost as if it was struck by lightning, followed by a large boom that makes his ears ring in the aftermath. An explosion, his mind helpfully informs him, strangely sounding like Youngjae's most knowledgeable tone. He trips and stumbles as the building starts to shake and crumble above them, tied down by the extra weight of Youngjae on his back. 

“Fuck,” He says, gritting his teeth against the extra weight and getting his feet steady underneath them again and pushing himself into a dead sprint. He hits the door to the stairs just as another explosion whooshes through the room they just left, the heat of the fire singeing at their backs. 

Daehyun takes the steps three at a time, willing himself to go faster, but also unwilling to injury himself now when the two of their survivals counted on his physical ability to get them out of the building. He had mere moments, but if he could get them to the second floor, he should be able to escape through the window without hurting Youngjae too much with the impact of the fall. 

Bursting onto the second floor, Daehyun immediately races towards the windows there, not even willing to wait a moment to catch his breath. Youngjae’s hands have caught into his hair and pulls harshly. Taking his cue, he slides to a stop just as a flaming pillar crashes through the ceiling and lands right in front of them and blocking their exit from the window. 

It’s hot, the fire now spread to most of this floor. The smoke chokes his lungs and he is sweating profusely at the heat and the physical exertion of carrying his friend from this burning building, but also the pure instinctual urge to get Youngjae out of harms way. Frantically, he searches for another exit, willing himself to find a way to get out of this death trap. 

Youngjae nudges him and points to the bathroom. Instantly understanding Youngjae’s plan, he sets off for the bathroom at a dead run. Bashing through the door, he doesn’t give himself even a moment to think before he is leaping through the window, shattering the glass as they fall and crash into the fire escape. 

Surprised but not taking the moment to allow himself to be surprised into inaction, Daehyun heaves himself back up. The part of the stairs that connects the second floor and the ground floor is still folded up and so Daehyun unhinges the contraption keeping it in place and allows it to swing vertically to the ground. Hoisting Youngjae onto a more secure spot on his back and ensuring his hands are clasped firmly around this neck, Daehyun grabs the guard rail and swings himself around, skipping the stairs and sliding down by his grip on the rails. He winces, his hands burning at the slide which would hurt even without the additional weight of Youngjae and forces himself to stop biting his lip at the pain so that when they crash to the floor, he doesn’t tear through his lip at the impact of the ground. 

They fall and land in a crumpled heap, but on blessed firm ground. He can hear Youngjae groan unhappily, coughing at the smoke, but he just thanks the stars that it is further proof that he is alive. Ignoring his bleeding hands and weak limbs, Daehyun focuses on putting his weight underneath him. 

When he forces himself from the ground again, this time his legs shake with the strain and leftover adrenalin. He is weary and so tired, but still far too close to the burning building for his comfort. They need someplace safe. Safety, get Youngjae to someplace safe. But where? 

“Trains,” Youngjae wheezes through a cough. Daehyun follows the order instinctively, not bothered that even in this state, Youngjae is still able to read his train of thoughts. He spins on his heel, turning them away from their burning headquarters and setting off for the nearby train tracks. It’s their wisest option of where to lie low and wait for the others to locate them. Just find an empty train car to lay low, very little possibility for anyone to find them that they didn't want to find them. Just like back in the day when Daehyun used to call those old train cars home. Quiet and safe for the night. Using all of his leftover energy, Daehyun drags them both to the tracks. 

By the time he finds a train car to climb into, his whole body is violently shaking in the aftershocks. He can barely keep one foot in front of the other and wants nothing more than to lie down for an entire week, but Youngjae is a warm presence on his back and his swallows breaths is a constant reminder to keep him pushing forward, towards safety. His need to find a safe place for Youngjae more of a concern than his own body’s well being. 

Pulling open the car door with a clang, Daehyun takes a few deep breathes before reaching for Youngjae’s clasped hands at his throat. Youngjae jerks and he comes to the sudden realization that he must’ve fallen asleep on their way here, curled on Daehyun's back. The corner of his lips curl into a tired smile when Youngjae swats at his hands, insisting on getting down on his own. 

Youngjae’s feet hit the ground and instantly give way, Daehyun has to wrap his arm around his waist to keep him upright. He is treated to a tired frown, but Daehyun knows in the way he leans further into his side and allows him to take almost all of his weight that Youngjae is thankful for him being there, for helping him. And he doesn't mind, it's only a sign that Youngjae is himself, that he wasn't too seriously hurt by whoever went after him. It's reassuring. 

Taking a moment before what will be a hard effort into the car, Daehyun presses the hidden button his glasses, allowing for geo-tracking for the others to find them before tucking his glasses, dirty with sweat and soot, into his pocket. 

They both struggle to climb the car, leaning on each other to get themselves up and in and both laying flat on their backs as moment as they succeed, gasping for breath. 

Daehyun is the first one to chuckle in the silence that falls over them. A bit at the ridiculousness at not even being able to climb into a train car from being too tired, a bit at finally being able to lay down, but a lot over how relieved he feels that Yoo Youngjae is safely pressed against his side. Just as his laugh echoes into the emptiness of the car, Youngjae quietly joins in, starting with a chuckle and ending with a full wheeze of laughter, his mouth pressed into his shoulder. 

The smoke still in their lungs makes them cough, but they laugh until they lose their breath. 

“I’m so glad you are alive,” Daehyun confesses in a rush, closing his eyes against the hot tears that suddenly threaten to spill. He feels like he can blame his swing in emotions on their near-escape from death and the intensity of the past hour, but if he is honest from himself, Youngjae has always made him feel his emotions more vividly than anyone else. Anger, loyalty, happiness, sorrow, and love. 

And now that he has time to think about how close he was to losing all of that, well, who can blame him if he sounds a bit crazy. 

“Thank you,” Youngjae says softly. His heart clenches at the almost reverent words. There is so much weight and tension in the air between them that has been building for some time. So many unsaid words between them above an undercurrent of mutual understanding that is shared between halfway-said words and meaningful glances and exasperated by the very real threat of losing each other. 

No, no more. Tonight has shown him that life is short and he isn’t going to go back to those half-truths anymore. 

Pushing himself up by his elbow, Daehyun turns to peer down at Youngjae who is watching him with dark, understanding eyes, completely unguarded from him for the first time. His pulse races and now he is shaking from something else all together. 

Taking the plunge, Daehyun whispers, “You can’t leave me like that.” 

Youngjae doesn’t reply, just keeps watching him with those open, unguarded eyes, but the way they are drawn magnetically towards each other, Daehyun knows that words aren’t necessary. He pauses, hovering over Youngjae, separated by mere inches, so close he can feel the smell of smoke on Youngjae’s skin and feel the warm caress of his breath. 

Affectionately, he closes the gap between them and presses a soft kiss onto Youngjae’s lips. He can feel Youngjae shakily release his held breath, relaxing and sinking into their kiss. Encouraged, Daehyun tilts his head and pours his emotions into his kiss, intensifying their kiss with a more firm press of their lips. 

So many missions, so many days, countless conversations that led them to this moment and he was going to take advantage of every moment of it. 

Pulling away, Daehyun drinks in the sight of Youngjae’s red, well-kissed lips and the slight smile he has and how his eyes practically sparkle up at him. Unable to resist, Daehyun leans in again for another kiss, happy when Youngjae’s hand find the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Daehyun catches Youngjae’s bottom lip in his teeth and relishes in the taste of the salt of his skin and the iron-taste of his split lip, just so many signs that Youngjae is laying, real and unresisting underneath him. Safe and not seriously harmed. 

He practically growls at the thought, making himself release Youngjae’s worried lip before he can reopen his wound. Shakily exhaling, Daehyun tucks his face into the crook of his neck and lets himself breathe in the warm, bright scent he finds there, relaxing bit by bit as Youngjae’s fingers play with the hair on the back of neck. 

"I won't," Youngjae finally whispers, drawing him up for a reverent kiss to his lips. Daehyun's breath catches in his throat, ready to promise him anything in that moment, but a familiar ring echoes between them. A tell-tale sign of a phone call from their team. 

"Later," Youngjae says, shifting underneath him to move and sit up properly, with a large wince, and reach for Daehyun's glasses. 

Daehyun catches his wrist right before he answers the call. Youngjae freezes and looks up at him, their eyes locking intensely. Slowly, he brings Youngjae's hand up to his lips, pressing an affectionate kiss to his palm. 

"Later," he promises.

**Author's Note:**

> And there it is! Author, thank you so much for letting me play with your writing. Almost immediately after reading "Viva la Us" I received all sorts of plots that I could play with and knew that was the fic to choose.
> 
> I have had a great time writing this for you. I'm even thinking about expanding this AU out and making it a series.
> 
> Thank you!


End file.
